Leah Tinari
R E C I P E S
Pierre Hermé’s Cannelés
To go with Molly Wizenberg’s article about the cannelés of Bordeaux, here is the recipe of Pierre Hermé, the Paris pâtissier, in our translation, for those who want to seek out the special molds and try their hands at the real thing. Type 45 flour roughly corresponds to US pastry flour, which is variable in its qualities and not widely available. AoE contributor James MacGuire suggests that you can substitute US unbleached all-purpose flour (up to about 11.5 percent protein) and increase the quantity of milk by about 50 milliliters. As a guide, a US “large” egg, shelled, weighs about 50 grams. Agricole rum is made on a small scale from cane juice as opposed to being made industrially from molasses. If you make cannelés, Hermé notes, “It is imperative to use copper molds, which ensure the ideal cooking. Before you first use them, clean them, and then season them by coating them with butter and placing them for 20 minutes in a hot oven — more than 250° C (500° F). Remove them from the oven, clean them while they’re still hot, and allow them to cool before using. Never wash the molds, simply wipe with a dry cloth after each use.”The Editors
2 vanilla beans, preferably Madagascan
500 ml cold milk
250 gr confectioners’ sugar
100 gr French type 45 flour (or see note above)
50 gr butter plus 50 gr soft butter for the molds
100 gr eggs
40 gr egg yolks
10 gr dark agricole rum
Slit the vanilla beans lengthwise, and scrape the seeds from them with a small knife. Put the seeds, vanilla pods, and milk in a saucepan and bring them to a boil, and then turn off the heat. Cool and allow to infuse for at least 8 hours in the refrigerator. Remove the pods.
Sift the sugar and flour, separately, into mixing bowls. Melt the butter in a small saucepan and allow it to cool. Break the eggs into a bowl, add the yolks, then the confectioner’s sugar, and whisk thoroughly. Then, stirring constantly, one at a time add the rum, butter, flour, and finally the cold milk. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the batter for 24 hours. You can keep it for 4 days at 4° C (40° F) and bake a portion at a time, since the cannelés must be eaten on the day they are baked. But each time you use the batter, stir it well and work it at least 2 minutes with a whisk.
For a smooth, shiny surface that accentuates the very dark brown of the cannelés, brush the molds with a mixture of equal parts odor-free beeswax and butter, melted together.
Chill the cannelé molds completely in the refrigerator, and then brush them with butter; fill with batter to 1 cm from the top. Bake the cannelés at 210° C (400° F) in a regular oven, or 180° C (350° F) in a convection oven, for about 1 hour 15 minutes for 5.5 cm molds. It’s said of cannelés: “When they’re black, they’re done.” The exterior must be very dark, very crisp, hiding — in a delightful contrast — a very soft heart. Unmold the cannelés while still hot; let them cool on a wire rack. If the batter sticks to the molds, put them in a hot oven and the batter will detach easily. It can happen that the cannelés swell excessively in cooking. You simply prick them with the tip of a knife to bring them back to the right size.
Enjoy them at room temperature.
From issue 87
